The grammar test will be given in the Ag Research Building (AGRS 136), Wednesdays at 4:00 pm. If that doesn't work for you, you can take it in the JCOM office on the third floor (AGRS 317) at a time to fit your schedule. To arrange a time to take the grammar test or if you have any questions, please contact the JCOM office at (435) 797-3292 or jcom@aggiemail.usu.edu.

In 1988, an American minister, author and part-time Utah resident name Robert Fulghum wrote a book called "All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten." In the book, Fulghum argues that the world would be a better place if everyone simply adhered to the same basic rules most people learn as children.

The problem with Fulghum's idea, of course, is that not every child learns the same rules - and our experiences, good and bad, all-to-often trump whatever simplistic rules we might once have learned.

As it turns out, that's a problem with collegiate student writing as well. Not everyone learned to write in the same way. Not everyone was taught the same rules. And even when the rules are taught, they're not often evenly enforced throughout a student's K-12 education.

But here’s the thing: To study in the Department of Journalism and Communication at Utah State University, students do need to know the rules — and not just the ones they were supposed to learn in kindergarten.

Some students are understandably concerned that their level of grammatical literacy might be a bit shy of what it should be as a college writer. That’s OK. Because while the department’s faculty does expect incoming students to have mastery of the English language above the level of a kindergartener, all incoming JCOM students really need to know they (should have) learned in the fifth grade.

That’s right. The fifth grade.

Below is a list of Common Core language arts standards for punctuation and grammar taught between kindergarten and the fifth grade, along with online tutorials from dozens of schools, programs and individuals. These tutorials can help ensure incoming JCOM students have a very basic knowledge of punctuation and grammar. Students who don’t have complete mastery over these elementary literacy skills should not enroll in any JCOM class until they have successfully remediated their difficulties.

Explain function of verbs in general and their function in particular sentences. Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present and future. Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states and conditions. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tenses.